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Coast City
History Origin Coast City is a California urban center located "less than half an hour from Edwards (Airforce Base) and twenty minutes from Fort Rock." Features of Coast City included Ferris Aircraft, an aerospace company for which Hal Jordan worked as a test pilot; his romantic interest, Carol Ferris, was the company's manager. Coast City also included an extensive beach, and was a popular spot for surfing. Destruction In the 1990s, Coast City was destroyed, with nearly all of its residents - then numbered at seven million - killed by Mongul. Mongul's gigantic ship appeared over Coast City and released thousands of spherical bombs which detonated simultaneously. It was then revealed that Mongul was doing the bidding of former astronaut Hank Henshaw, better known as the Cyborg Superman. Mongul and Henshaw built Engine City in Coast City's ashes, as part of a plot to turn Earth into the new Warworld. Killed in the blast were numerous friends of Hal Jordan, including Kari Limbo and several Ferris Aircraft employees. Hal Jordan attempted to resurrect the city using his Green Lantern Ring and learned that his first girlfriend also died in the blast, but whether this was truly her spirit or his imagination made real is unclear. As a result of this, Hal Jordan became the villain Parallax. This was at first attributed to a mental breakdown over the destruction of his city, but it would subsequently be revealed he was under the influence of an alien parasite. This led in turn to the appointment of a new Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner. A memorial to Coast City's victims was erected on the site of the city with the help of most of the major superheroes of the period. When Hal Jordan died, it memorialized him as well. For a time, an alien city named Haven (which crashed onto Earth) resided on top of the ruins of Coast City. It was later revealed that Hank Henshaw chose Coast City because his wife, Terri Henshaw, was one of its former residents, in an effort to erase his former life. Reconstruction Coast City was rebuilt in the wake of Jordan's return to the ranks of the living. While the Spectre, Hal Jordan, and the Parallax parasite were wresting for control of the Spectre's powers, all roads, street signs, and Jordan's apartment reappeared, setting the groundwork for the city. Repopulating the rebuilt city became one of the latest initiatives of Jonathan Horne, then-current President of the United States. Thus far, Coast City has remained a ghost town due to its reputation as the site of a mass murder. Among the exceptions depicted to date is the resurrected Hal Jordan, who lives in Coast City when he isn't working at nearby Edwards Air Force Base as one of their test pilots. The U.S. Navy is also establishing a presence in the region in the wake of its reconstruction, as both a domestic security and economic stimulus measure. One year after the events of Infinite Crisis, Coast City has finished reconstruction. During the Sinestro Corps war, it was targeted for destruction by Sinestro. Despite Hal Jordan's incitement to run, the citizens stayed where they were, even flashing green lights from their homes to show support. In the aftermath, the city's population appears to have risen dramatically with many businesses and citizens returning. It has also been dubbed by the media as "The City Without Fear". The city's population eventually sprung to over two million by the time of Final Crisis. The Blackest Night With the death of Damage at the hands of the Black Lantern Jean Loring, the black lantern's power level reached 100%. The Black Central Battery was transported from Ryut to Coast City, with Scar and the captive Guardians, as Black Hand bid Nekron to rise, who, in turn bid the 7 million victims of the earlier destruction to rise. The city was also the final showdown between the Lantern corps and the Black Lanterns, with the defeat of Nekron and the end to the Blackest Night. Notes *Coast City, which first appeared in Showcase #22 in September-October 1959, was a city located in California. This made it one of the few fictional cities in the DC Universe to have a specifically given location from the start. *Coast City was usually portrayed as an analogue of San Diego or Los Angeles. Green Lantern: Rebirth identified it as being in Northern California, and recent issues of Green Lantern listed it as being twenty miles from Edwards Air Force Base. This would seem to be contradictory (and might indicate that Edwards is in a different location in the DC Universe than it is in ours). *The Atlas of the DC Universe published by Mayfair Games in 1990, placed Coast City in northern California, between San Francisco and Green Arrow's Star City. Trivia *Coming Soon In Other Media *Coast City is represented as Hal Jordan's hometown in the Green Lantern (Film). Links *http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Coast_City *http://www.comicvine.com/coast-city/34-47879/ Category:Cities Category:Former Black Lantern Corps Members